AP Literature and Composition
Mrs. LaFrance
Summer Assignment
2015-2016
Part 1: Introduction to Analysis
This part of your work will provide you with an analytical foundation. Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read
Literature Like a Professor introduces and explains a whole list of common literary tropes and conceits. It will
be an excellent reference for us in class throughout the year. Please read the entire text, but respond to only
FIVE of the attached writing prompts.
Part 2: Novel Study
Read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Just read it—no written work, although you may choose to annotate it with
post-its or take notes as you read. We will study this text extensively in the fall. If you want to, view the recent
film adaptation directed by Ang Lee. Be aware, however, there are some significant differences between these
two texts.
Part 3: Poetry Study
Read all of the following:
“The Pomegranate” by Eavan Boland
“The Bistro Styx” by Rita Dove
“Invitation to Myth” by Robert G. Ingersoll
“The Motive for Metaphor” by Wallace Stevens
Choose one of the poems from the above list and complete one of the annotation strategy sheets—3-5 sentences
per analytical aspect. Be ready to talk about it on the first day of class.
** Please type everything (including play and poetry annotation.)
** Refer to the list of tone vocabulary for helpful adjectives to describe literature.
DUE: The first day of school 2015-2016
Writing Assignments for
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
by Thomas C. Foster
(Prompts adapted from Donna Anglin)
Introduction: How'd He Do That?
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns
make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was
enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.
Chapter 1 -- Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form
used on pages 3-5.
Chapter 2 -- Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
Chapter 3: --Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or viewed.
Chapter 4 -- If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
Select three sonnets and show which form they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form. (Submit copies
of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis).
Chapter 5 --Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works.
Chapter 6 -- When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare...
Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this
connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster shows how Fugard reflects
Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on theme.
Chapter 7 -- ...Or the Bible
Read James Joyce’s short story"Araby" (available online). Discuss Biblical allusions that Foster does not
mention. Look at the example of the "two great jars." Be creative and imaginative in these connections.
Chapter 8 -- Hanseldee and Greteldum
Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony or deepen
appreciation?
Chapter 9 -- It's Greek to Me
Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology. Be prepared to
share your poem with the class. Note that there are extensive links to classical mythology on my Classics page.
Chapter 10 -- It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Interlude -- Does He Mean That
Chapter 11 --...More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.
Chapter 12 -- Is That a Symbol?
Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism of the fence in "Araby." (Mangan's sister
stands behind it.)
Chapter 13 -- It's All Political
Assume that Foster is right and "it is all political." Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned
to you as a freshman is political.
Chapter 14 -- Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that
will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film -- for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand
Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiator and Ben-Hur.
Chapter 15 -- Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Chapter 16 -- It's All About Sex...
Chapter 17 -- ...Except the Sex
Okay… the sex chapters. The key idea from this chapter is that "scenes in which sex is coded rather than
explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense that literal depictions" (141). In other words,
sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is described, and, if the author is doing his job, it
reflects and creates theme or character. Choose a novel or movie in which sex is suggested, but not described,
and discuss how the relationship is suggested and how this implication affects the theme or develops
characterization.
Chapter 18 -- If She Comes Up, It's Baptism
Think of a "baptism scene" from a significant literary work. How was the character different after the
experience? Discuss.
Chapter 19 -- Geography Matters…
Discuss at least four different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under "geography."
Chapter 20 -- ...So Does Season
Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful,
traditional, or unusual way. (Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.)
Interlude -- One Story
Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a literary work with
which you are familiar.
Chapter 21 -- Marked for Greatness
Figure out Harry Potter's scar. If you aren't familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical
imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization.
Chapter 22 -- He's Blind for a Reason, You Know
Chapter 23 -- It's Never Just Heart Disease...
Chapter 24 -- ...And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the "principles
governing the use of disease in literature" (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot,
theme, or symbolism.
Chapter 25 -- Don't Read with Your Eyes
After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth
century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed
by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not
make it in this century.
Chapter 26 -- Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
Select an ironic literary work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.
Chapter 27 -- A Test Case
Read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise
on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your writing with the three examples. How
did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of
Mansfield's story?
Envoi
Choose a motif not discussed in this book (as the horse reference on page 280) and note its appearance in three
or four different works. What does this idea seem to signify?
The Pomegranate
Eavan Boland
The only legend I have ever loved is
the story of a daughter lost in hell.
And found and rescued there.
Love and blackmail are the gist of it.
Ceres and Persephone the names.
And the best thing about the legend is
I can enter it anywhere. And have.
As a child in exile in
a city of fogs and strange consonants,
I read it first and at first I was
an exiled child in the crackling dusk of
the underworld, the stars blighted. Later
I walked out in a summer twilight
searching for my daughter at bed-time.
When she came running I was ready
to make any bargain to keep her.
I carried her back past whitebeams
and wasps and honey-scented buddleias.
But I was Ceres then and I knew
winter was in store for every leaf
on every tree on that road.
Was inescapable for each one we passed.
And for me.
It is winter
and the stars are hidden.
I climb the stairs and stand where I can see
my child asleep beside her teen magazines,
her can of Coke, her plate of uncut fruit.
The pomegranate! How did I forget it?
She could have come home and been safe
and ended the story and all
our heart-broken searching but she reached
out a hand and plucked a pomegranate.
She put out her hand and pulled down
the French sound for apple and
the noise of stone and the proof
that even in the place of death,
at the heart of legend, in the midst
of rocks full of unshed tears
ready to be diamonds by the time
the story was told, a child can be
hungry. I could warn her. There is still a chance.
The rain is cold. The road is flint-coloured.
The suburb has cars and cable television.
The veiled stars are above ground.
It is another world. But what else
can a mother give her daughter but such
beautiful rifts in time?
If I defer the grief I will diminish the gift.
The legend will be hers as well as mine.
She will enter it. As I have.
She will wake up. She will hold
the papery flushed skin in her hand.
And to her lips. I will say nothing.
The Bistro Styx
Rita Dove
She was thinner, with a mannered gauntness
as she paused just inside the double
glass doors to survey the room, silvery cape
billowing dramatically behind her. What's this,
I thought, lifting a hand until
she nodded and started across the parquet;
that's when I saw she was dressed all in gray,
from a kittenish cashmere skirt and cowl
down to the graphite signature of her shoes.
"Sorry I'm late," she panted, though
she wasn't, sliding into the chair, her cape
tossed off in a shudder of brushed steel.
We kissed. Then I leaned back to peruse
my blighted child, this wary aristocratic mole.
"How's business?" I asked, and hazarded
a motherly smile to keep from crying out:
Are you content to conduct your life
as a cliché and, what's worse,
an anachronism, the brooding artist's demimonde?
Near the rue Princesse they had opened
a gallery cum souvenir shop which featured
fuzzy off-color Monets next to his acrylics, no
doubt,
plus beared African drums and the occasional
miniature
gargoyle from Notre Dame the Great Artist had
carved at breakfast with a pocket knife.
"Tourists love us. The Parisians, of course"-she blushed--"are amused, though not without
a certain admiration . . ."
The Chateaubriand
arrived on a bone-white plate, smug and absolute
in its fragrant crust, a black plug steaming
like the heart plucked from the chest of a worthy
enemy;
one touch with her fork sent pink juices streaming.
"Admiration for what?" Wine, a bloody
Pinot Noir, brought color to her cheeks. "Why,
the aplomb with which we've managed
to support our Art"--meaning he'd convinced
her to pose nude for his appalling canvases,
faintly futuristic landscapes strewn
with carwrecks and bodies being chewed
by rabid cocker spaniels. "I'd like to come by
the studio," I ventured, "and see the new stuff."
"Yes, if you wish . . ." A delicate rebuff
before the warning: "He dresses all
in black now. Me, he drapes in blues and carmine-and even though I think it's kinda cute,
in company I tend toward more muted shades."
She paused and had the grace
to drop her eyes. She did look ravishing,
spookily insubstantial, a lipstick ghost on tissue,
or as if one stood on a fifth-floor terrace
peering through a fringe of rain at Paris'
dreaming chimney pots, each sooty issue
wobbling skyward in an ecstatic oracular spiral.
"And he never thinks of food. I wish
I didn't have to plead with him to eat. . . ." Fruit
and cheese appeared, arrayed on leaf-green dishes.
I stuck with café crème. "This Camembert's
so ripe," she joked, "it's practically grown hair,"
mucking a golden glob complete with parsley sprig
onto a heel of bread. Nothing seemed to fill
her up: She swallowed, sliced into a pear,
speared each tear-shaped lavaliere
and popped the dripping mess into her pretty mouth.
Nowhere the bright tufted fields, weighted
vines and sun poured down out of the south.
"But are you happy?" Fearing, I whispered it
quickly. "What? You know, Mother"-she bit into the starry rose of a fig-"one really should try the fruit here."
I've lost her, I thought, and called for the bill.
An Invitation to Myth
Robert G. Ingersoll
Life is a narrow vale between the cold
And barren peaks of two eternities.
We strive in vain to look beyond the heights,
We cry aloud; the only answer
Is the echo of our wailing cry.
From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead
There comes no word; but in the night of death
Hope sees a star, and listening love can hear
The rustle of wing.
These myths were born of hopes, and fears and tears,
And smiles; and they were touched and colored
By all there is of joy and grief between
The rosy dawn of birth and death’s sad night;
They clothed even the stars with passion,
And gave the gods the faults and frailties
Of the sons of men. In them the winds
And waves were music, and all the lakes and streams,
Springs, mountains, woods, and perfumed dells,
Were haunted by a thousand fairy forms.
The Motive for Metaphor
Wallace Stevens
You like it under the trees in autumn,
Because everything is half dead.
The wind moves like a cripple among the leaves
And repeats words without meaning.
In the same way, you were happy in spring,
With the half colors of quarter-things,
The slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,
The single bird, the obscure moon-The obscure moon lighting an obscure world
Of things that would never be quite expressed,
Where you yourself were not quite yourself,
And did not want nor have to be,
Desiring the exhilarations of changes:
The motive for metaphor, shrinking from
The weight of primary noon,
The A B C of being,
The ruddy temper, the hammer
Of red and blue, the hard sound-Steel against intimation--the sharp flash,
The vital, arrogant, fatal, dominant X.
Annotation Strategies:
SOAPSTone
Identify:
Subject – what the piece is about
Occasion– the time and place of the piece; the context that inspired the writing
Audience– the group of readers to whom the text is directed
Purpose– the reason behind the text
Speaker– the voice that tells the story
Tone– the attitude of the author toward his/her subject
Synthesize:
Use the observations above to discuss the overall meaningfulness, author’s purpose and/or impact on the
reader of the selected piece.
Annotation Strategies:
SIFTT
Identify:
Symbol – examine the title and text for symbolism
Images– identify images and sensory details
Figures of Speech– analyze figurative language and other devices
Tone and Theme– identify connections of devices with tone and theme
Synthesize:
Use the observations above to discuss the overall meaningfulness, author’s purpose and/or impact on the
reader of the selected piece.
Annotation Strategies:
DIDLS
Identify:
Diction – the connotation of the word choice
Images– vivid appeals to understanding through the senses
Details– facts that are included and those that are omitted
Language– the overall use of language: formal, clinical, jargon, friendly
Sentence Structure– length and construction of the sentences
Synthesize:
Use the observations above to discuss the overall meaningfulness, author’s purpose and/or impact on the
reader of the selected piece.
Tone Vocabulary
DO NOT Say dark, light, happy, sad, cute, random, awkward
Positive Tone Words
Amiable
Consoling
Amused
Content
Appreciative
Dreamy
Authoritative
Ecstatic
Benevolent
Elated
Brave
Elevated
Calm
Encouraging
Cheerful
Energetic
Cheery
Enthusiastic
Compassionate
Excited
Complimentary
Exuberant
Confident
Fanciful
Friendly
Playful
Happy
Pleasant
Hopeful
Proud
Impassioned Relaxed
Jovial
Reverent
Joyful
Romantic
Jubilant
Soothing
Lighthearted
Surprised
Loving
Sweet
Optimistic
Sympathetic
Passionate
Vibrant
Peaceful
Whimsical
Negative Tone Words
Accusing
Choleric
Aggravated
Coarse
Agitated
Cold
Angry
Condemnatory
Apathetic
Condescending
Arrogant
Contradictory
Artificial
Critical
Audacious
Desperate
Belligerent
Disappointed
Bitter
Disgruntled
Boring
Disgusted
Brash
Disinterested
Childish
Facetious
Furious
Harsh
Haughty
Hateful
Hurtful
Indignant
Inflammatory
Insulting
Irritated
Manipulative
Obnoxious
Outraged
Passive
Quarrelsome
Shameful
Smooth
Snooty
Superficial
Surly
Testy
Threatening
Tired
Uninterested
Wrathful
Humor/Irony/Sarcasm Tone Words
Amused
Droll
Bantering
Facetious
Bitter
Flippant
Caustic
Giddy
Comical
Humorous
Condescending
Insolent
Contemptuous
Ironic
Critical
Irreverent
Cynical
Joking
Disdainful
Malicious
Mock-heroic
Mocking
Mock-serious
Patronizing
Pompous
Quizzical
Ribald
Ridiculing
Sad
Sarcastic
Sardonic
Satiric
Scornful
Sharp
Silly
Taunting
Teasing
Whimsical
Wry
Sorrow/Fear/Worry Tone Words
Aggravated
Embarrassed
Agitated
Fearful
Anxious
Foreboding
Apologetic
Gloomy
Apprehensive
Grave
Concerned
Hollow
Confused
Hopeless
Dejected
Horrific
Depressed
Horror
Despairing
Melancholy
Disturbed
Miserable
Morose
Mournful
Nervous
Numb
Sober
Ominous
Paranoid
Pessimistic
Pitiful
Poignant
Regretful
Remorseful
Resigned
Sad
Serious
Miscellaneous Tone Words
Admonitory
Dramatic
Allusive
Earnest
Apathetic
Expectant
Authoritative
Factual
Baffled
Fervent
Callous
Formal
Candid
Forthright
Ceremonial
Frivolous
Clinical
Haughty
Consoling
Histrionic
Contemplative
Humble
Conventional
Incredulous
Detached
Informative
Didactic
Inquisitive
Disbelieving
Instructive
Intimae
Judgmental
Learned
Loud
Lyrical
Matter-of-fact
Meditative
Nostalgic
Objective
Obsequious
Patriotic
Persuasive
Pleading
Pretentious
Provocative
Questioning
Reflective
Reminiscent
Resigned
Restrained
Seductive
Sentimental
Serious
Shocking
Sincere
Unemotional
Urgent
Vexed
Wistful
Zealous
Solemn
Somber
Staid
Upset